Vehicle for transporting containerized freight

ABSTRACT

A vehicle for the transport of containerized freight, i.e. goods which have been packaged in quantity for shipment on a pallet, in a receptacle, etc., has an elongated rigid closed frame whose rear end is provided with wheels and whose front end is adapted to be pulled. Extending parallel to each other and to each side of an opening in the frame are a pair of arms which each have one end pivoted toward the front of the frame and another end attached to one end of an expansible hydraulic cylinder supported toward the rear of the frame. Expansion of the cylinders pushes the free end of the arms downwardly. These free ends are provided with wheels, which can be the usual road wheels of the vehicle, so that when the cylinders are actuated, the rear end of the frame is lifted and the frame, in this position, can be backed over a container and thereafter lowered around it. Means is provided around the frame opening to grab the container and lift it into place within the opening for transport.

United States Patent Mischek [451 Sept. 12, 1972 [54] VEHICLE FOR TRANSPORTING CONTAINERIZED FREIGHT [72] Inventor: Hugo Mischek, Vienna, Austria [73] Assignee: Siler AG, Luzern, Switzerland [22] Filed: Nov. 10, 1970 [21 1 Appl. No.: 88,424

[52] US. Cl ..2l4/390, 2l4/50l [51] Int. Cl. "B601: 3/00 [58] Field of Search ..2l4/390, 392, 394, 396

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,708,044 5/1955 Sher et al ..2l4/394 1,480,257 l/l924 Gerlinger ..2l4/392 X 2,706,057 4/ l 955 Belding ..2 l 4/ 392 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 792,685 4/1958 Great Britain ..2l4/394 Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant ExaminerFrank E. Werner Attorney-Karl F. Ross [57] ABSTRACT A vehicle for the transport of containerized freight, i.e. goods which have been packaged in quantity for shipment on a pallet, in a receptacle, etc., has an elongated rigid closed frame whose rear end is provided with wheels and whose front end is adapted to be pulled. Extending parallel to each other and to each side of an opening in the frame are a pair of arms which each have one end pivoted toward the front of the frame and another end attached to one end of an expansible hydraulic cylinder supported toward the rear of the frame. Expansion of the cylinders pushes the free end of the arms downwardly. These free ends are provided with wheels, which can be the usual road wheels of the vehicle, so that when the cylinders are actuated, the rear end of the frame is lifted and the frame, in this position, can be backed over a container and thereafter lowered around it. Means is provided around the frame opening to grab the container and lift it into place within the opening for transport.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEP 12 1912 SHEET 1 UF 4 HUGO MI SCHEk R0 gent ATTORNEY m vA P Q o 7W R w A m x w /I\\W\\\\\ x L PATENTEDsEP 12 I972 3. 690.489

sum 2 or 4 HUGO MISCHEK PKTE'N'TEDSEP 12 m2 SHEEI 3 [IF 4 nuco MI'SCHEK ATTORNEY PATENTED 2 I972 3.690.489

sum u 0F 4 HUGO MISCHEK ATTORNEY VEHICLE FOR TRANSPORTING CONTAINERIZED FREIGHT FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a vehicle for the transport of containerized freight.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Freight containers are usually simply set on and secured to flat-bed trailers for transport. A crane is used to charge and discharge such containers, portal cranes or similar cranes of limited reach being used extensively. Such cranes necessitate the storage of both the full and empty containers in rows, with enough space between adjacent rows to pull in a flat-bed trailer so that the container can be lifted up, shifted laterally, and set thereon. Thus, twice the amount of space actually used must be provided. The term containers is here used to designate any freight package for transport, i.e. partly or completely sealed receptacles, pallets to which exposed goods are fastened, etc.

The use of such containers for the transport of construction materials is especially important. On job sites, even more so than in storage depots, space is very tight so that a system taking the minimum amount of room is absolutely necessary. Up to now the best solution has simply been to leave a loaded trailer at the site and to pick up an emptied trailer. This system requires a substantial outlay for twice the number of trailers actually in useful service, since it is only the somewhat lengthy loading and unloading process which prevents the trailers from all being used continuously.

Another goal of any trucking operation is to carry the largest load possible with the smallest turnaround time. Since heights above 4.40 meters are impossible if not illegal just about everywhere, the average load can have a height (deducting the height of the vehicle, the height of the container walls and the ground clearance) of about 3.80 meters.

The construction of prefabricated buildings especially calls for the transport of the largest wall, roof and floor elements possible, since for obvious reasons the fewer pieces there are to set together the quicker construction can be carried out. A plate size having a greatest dimension of 4.10 meters is considered to be ideal for rapid construction. As described above, it is virtually impossible to transport such plates on conventional containerized-freight vehicles.

Efforts have been made with trailers having open frames into which packaged freight can be rolled or slided; however, virtually all such designs have some structure above and/or below the container which once again cost valuable space.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved vehicle for the transport of containerized freight.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of such a vehicle which is able to load and unload itself and which can accept very tall loads.

Another object is to provide an improved freight vehicle and container for use therewith as well as a method of using same.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above objects are attained, according to the present invention, by a vehicle having a closed elongated rigid frame which is provided at one end with means for towing it, e.g. a tractor, and at the other end with wheels. This frame has an opening which can receive the container and means is provided for lifting the rear end of the frame up to clear the container so that the entire frame can be pushed back over the container and then lowered around it. Means is also provided to grip the container and lift it into position in the frame as well as to lower it for unloading.

Such a vehicle can load and unload itself when operated by a single driver and, preferably, by at least one other person who signals the driver when the rear end is'high enough, how far to back up, etc. The containers can be placed next to each other with only a small clearance needed to each side for the sides of the frame and to the rear for the wheels and rear end of the frame. The overall height is only equal to the height of the container plus the road clearance since the container is slung with no part of the frame between it and the road. Since all of the mechanism needed for loading and unloading the container is on the trailer of the vehicle, the container can be simple and correspondingly inexpensive.

According to other features of this invention, tilting means for raising the wheel end of the frame comprises a pair of arms each pivoted on one side of the frame and extending rearwardly from their pivots which are advantageously coaxial. Each arm carries at its free end a wheel aligned in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and an extensible and retractile member, e.g. a hydraulic cylinder operable by the vehicle's hydraulic pump, is provided on each side of the frame with one end pivoted to the free end of one of the arms and the other end pivoted on the frame rearwardly of the middle thereof. The two arms and their common pivot axle can be constituted by a single rigid U-shaped frame.

The trailer of the vehicle can be formed as a semitrailer, in which case it is pivotal on the fifth wheel of the tractor, or as a full trailer with the pivot carried on the front bogie. It is also possible to form the frame as part of a nonarticulated truck.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects, features and advantages will become apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the vehicle according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is another side view showing the trailer part of the vehicle in the raised position;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a container according to the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a side view similar to the view of FIG. 1 showing an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION As shown in FIGS. 1, the vehicle has a trailer frame 1 formed by two longitudinally extending side beams 2 and 3 transversely interconnected at their ends by beams 4 and 5, relative to the travel direction shown by arrow A, between these beams by another transverse beam 28. The beams 2, 3, 28 and 5 define a rectangular opening 31 in the closed frame which corresponds to the rectangular outline of a container to be described below.

The frame 1 is provided at its rear end with a bogie 12 carrying eight steerable wheels 11. At its front end it is provided with a transverse horizontal pivot 26 mounted on a plate 13 which is coupled to a truck 14. This truck 14 can be the rear end of a tractor, in which case the frame 1 is a semi-trailer, or it can be a simple truck adapted to be attached to a hitch and pulled like a full trailer. It is also possible to make the frame 1 selfdriven. FIG. 2 shows that the frame 1 is also pivotal about a vertical pivot 13a relative to the truck 14.

A U-shaped rigid frame 7 pivotal underneath the frame 1 about a transverse axis 27 has two parallel longitudinally extending arms 9 carrying at their free ends longitudinally directed rotatable wheels interconnected at their pivot ends by a transverse member 8. Attached to the free end of each arm 9 by a ball-andsocket joint 18 is a telescopic hydraulic cylinder 16 whose upper end is received in a ball-and-socket joint 17 on an inverted V-shaped support frame 30 connected to the respective side beam 2 or 3 of the frame 1. Hydraulic extension of the cylinders 16 lifts the back end of the frame up as shown in dot-dash lines in H6. 1 and in solid lines in FIG. 3. Since the cylinders 16 are pivoted at both ends, they need only be dimensioned to take thrust as virtually no lateral stress is applied to them. To this end the upper end of each cylinder 16 is attached near the center of the frame 1.

Each beam 2, 3 is provided with a front hydraulic jack and a rear jack 19 which lie on the perimeter of the opening 31 and have lower ends 19a and 20a, respectively, which can be hydraulically raised and lowered.

F IG. 4 shows a container 6 intended for use carrying large plates, e.g. of concrete, used in the prefabricated construction of buildings. This container comprises a pair of rigid stout beams 21 and 22 which extend parallel to each other and are interconnected by bars 23 which, together with the beams 21 and 22, define a rectangle which fits within the opening 31. Extending vertically upward from each beam is an upright beam 32 both of which are connected together by a plate 33. The slabs to be transported are merely stood on edge on the two beams 21 and 22 and leaned inwardly against the uprights 32 with a chain or the like stretched around them to hold them in position.

The trailer is backed up to the loaded container and its rear end is raised by the jacks 16, which push the arms 9 down from their transport position against the beams 2 and 3, as shown in FIG. 1. The whole trailer is then pushed back over the container 6, with the wheels 11 clearing its upper edge, until this container 6 is contacted by the beam 28. Then the cylinders 16 lower the frame 1 down again. The feet 19a and 20a of the jacks l9 and 20 are rectangular and fit just within holes 24 formed through the downwardly open channel beams 21 and 22. These feet 19a and 20a are lowered through the holes 24 and then rotated through 90 so that they cannot pull out. Thereafter the jacks 19 and 20 are hydraulically shortened to lift the container 6 free of the ground by the necessary road clearance. The container 6 is then locked in place with strong latches or dogs to ensure its firm attachment within the frame 1 for travel.

Unloading is carried out by setting the container 6 on the ground beneath the frame 1 and freeing it of the feet 19a and 20a. Then the rear end of the frame 1 is raised up and the whole frame 1 rolled away forwardly on the wheels 10.

The wheels 10 are advantageously situated to one side of the longitudinal center of the frame 1 and their pivot to the other side. In F IG. 5 only two rear wheels 12 are provided to the each side of the frame 1', and these wheels are held well to each side of the frame I on forks 35 on the end of long arms 9'. Pivots 34 for the attached ends of the arms 9 are forward of the frame center. In this embodiment each cylinder support 30 is mounted to the rear of the frame and is attached directly above the respective pair of wheels 12'. These wheels have a transverse spacing which is sufficient to allow a container 6 to pass between them. This embodiment is used in the same manner as the one of FIGS. l4. The arms 9' are independent since no interconnecting pivot axle can be provided extending across the opening 31. This Figure also shows holes 36 formed in the frame 1 through which bolts can be passed to engage and secure a container during transport. Similar holes can be provided in the beams 5 and 21 to engage the uprights 32 of the container shown in FIG. 4 so that this need not be supported by the jacks 19 and 20 alone during transport.

As can be seen, the height of the container plus the road clearance is the load height so that in cases as shown here the extra thickness added by the containerthe height of the beams 21 and 22 and the ground clearance along restrict the load height beyond the other practical and legal restrictions. It is quite possible to carry a load which is only one foot shorter than the maximum height allowable according to the system of the present invention. Furthermore, the truck driver and his helper, or even the driver alone, can load and unload the vehicle, discharging a full container and picking up an empty container. No costly crane or crane-operating personnel is needed. The container need merely be set on even ground with free access possible to one of its ends and a small clearance all around it. At either a depot or work site, loading and unloading such a container is possible.

I claim:

1. A vehicle for the transport of a freight container, comprising:

a closed elongated rigid frame formed with an opening, said container being receivable with said opening;

a plurality of wheels at one end of said frame engageable with the ground;

drive means at the other end of said frame for displacing same along the ground;

tilting means on said frame intermediate said ends for lifting said one end to clear said container, said drive means being operable to'displace said frame when raised, said tilting means including a pair of longitudinally extending parallel arms having ends toward said drive means pivotaliy mounted on said frame, and

respective expansible and contractile means extending between each of the other ends of said arms and said frame and operable to pivot said arms about their pivoted ends; and

elevating means on said frame for lifting a container resting on the ground within said opening and for supporting said container on said frame.

2. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein said tilting means includes an axle rigid with said arms and coaxial with the pivot axes thereof, each of said arms carrying on its free end a wheel engageable with the ground.

3. The vehicle defined in claim 2 wherein said wheels on said arms are fixedly directed in the longitudinal direction of said frame.

4. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein said expansible and contractile means includes a pair of hydraulic cylinders each having an upper pivoted end attached to said frame and a lower pivoted end attached to the free end of one of said arms.

5. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein said drive means includes a wheeled truck, said frame being provided with pivot means interconnecting said truck and said other end of said frame for pivoting of said frame upwardly about a horizontal axis transverse to said frame.

6. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein said elevating means comprises a plurality of jacks attached to said frame about said opening and having displaceable lower ends lockably engageable with said container.

7. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein said opening is rectangular. 

1. A vehicle for the transport of a freight container, comprising: a closed elongated rigid frame formed with an opening, said container being receivable with said opening; a plurality of wheels at one end of said frame engageable with the ground; drive means at the other end of said frame for displacing same along the ground; tilting means on said frame intermediate said ends for lifting said one end to clear said container, said drive means being operable to displace said frame when raised, said tilting means including a pair of longitudinally extending parallel arms having ends toward said drive means pivotally mounted on said frame, and respective expansible and contractile means extending between each of the other ends of said arms and said frame and operable to pivot said arms about their pivoted ends; and elevating means on said frame for lifting a container resting on the ground within said opening and for supporting said container on said frame.
 2. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein said tilting means includes an axle rigid with said arms and coaxial with the pivot axes thereof, each of said arms carrying on its free end a wheel engageable with the ground.
 3. The vehicle defined in claim 2 wherein said wheels on said arms are fixedly directed in the longitudinal direction of said frame.
 4. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein said expansible and contractile means includes a pair of hydraulic cylinders each having an upper pivoted end attached to said frame and a lower pivoted end attached to the free end of one of said arms.
 5. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein said drive means includes a wheeled truck, said frame being provided with pivot means interconnecting said truck and said other end of said frame for pivoting of said frame upwardly about a horizontal axis transverse to said frame.
 6. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein said elevating means comprises a plurality of jacks attached to said frame about said opening and having displaceable lower ends lockably engageable with said container.
 7. The vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein said opening is rectangular. 